Hot Docs Unveils Glitzy Special Presentations

TORONTO – Even documentary festivals go for the glitz and glamour: Hot Docs on Tuesday unveiled the latest documentaries from Lee Hirsch, Dori Berinstein and actor Michael Rapaport as part of its star-speckled Special Presentations sidebar.

The Toronto doc festival will give international premieres to Berinstein’s Carol Channing: Larger Than Life, a biopic about the Broadway powerhouse, now 90 years-old, Hirsch’s The Bully Project, and Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest, Rapaport's directorial debut about true hip-hop pioneers.

Other international premieres in Toronto, many direct from Sundance, include that festival’s special jury prize winner Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey, from filmmaker Constance Marks and narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, and Fenton Bailey’s Becoming Chaz, which portrays Chaz Bono, formerly Chastity, and her gender transformation in the public spotlight.

"Our Special Presentations program is the closest documentary gets to glitz and glamour," Hot Docs director of programming Sean Farnel explained.

Hot Docs, North America's largest documentary festival, will also host nine official delegations at its upcoming April 28 to May 8 edition as part of its market, from Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, the Nordic region, South Africa, the U.K. and the U.S.

And Italian films will receive a spotlight as part of Hot Doc’s Made In program, with screenings in Toronto that include Castle, by Massimo D'Anolfi and Martina Parenti, Giuseppe Schillaci’s Cosmic Energy Inc., and Draquila – Italy Trembles, where actor and political satirist Sabina Guzzanti critiques government ineptitude and corruption after the 2009 earthquake that devastated L'Aquila.